The post-Paul Goldschmidt Diamondbacks feel a little like the post-Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole Pirates in a way. Former playoff teams stripped of the guys for whom casual fans tuned in, but, upon closer inspection, groups with a bunch of solid, decent ballplayers. If one doesn’t spend a lot of time following the Diamondbacks (or Pirates), they can quickly be dismissed as a bit irrelevant, but, these are teams well above the tanking organizations, with a cautious eye pointed toward winning.
It’s not a perfect one-to-one comparison. Arizona still has its ace, one it was paying handsomely in the first place.